NUR344 Assignment: Health Challenges of Indigenous Australians

This assignment presents a community action plan focused on addressing the prevalence and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) within Indigenous Australian communities. The plan acknowledges the significantly higher rates of T2DM among this population compared to non-Indigenous Australians, citing factors such as lifestyle changes, genetic predispositions, and historical context. The assignment provides a table outlining the target group (Indigenous Australians), the health challenge (T2DM), strategies for promoting and maintaining health (diet and blood sugar monitoring), promoting independence (health education, community involvement), and evaluation strategies (periodic audits and assessment of understanding). The original discussion post expands on this plan, introducing the chosen group and health challenge, justifying the significance of the health issue, and providing a rationale for the selected methods and tools, all within the scope of a community health nurse. The assignment also considers cultural safety, outlining how it is incorporated into the planning, and describes evaluation strategies. The post concludes with questions to encourage peer engagement and includes a comprehensive list of scholarly references in APA format.

NUR344 Community Action Plan Template
Part 1: Target group and Health Challenge
Select one of the two following target groups AND a significant health care
challenge facing this group to create context for your work:
 Indigenous Australians
OR
 A CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) group in Australia
 Fill out the table below as per instructions provided under ‘Assessment information
and submission’ on your NUR344 Learnline site.
 Once you have filled it out and saved it to your computer you may ‘copy’ (ctrl C) it
and ‘paste’ (ctrl V) your table into the discussion forum thread or insert it as an image
as convenient to you.
Community Health Nursing Action Plan
Target Group Indigenous Australians
The Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders in
Australia are local Australians. All these
words involve individuals from communities
who lived before British settlement of
Australia and the outlying islands.
Health Challenge Type 2 Diabetes:
Type 2 diabetes is Australia's most rapidly

growing illness issue which had been
considered chronic. The predominance of
Type 2 diabetes among Indigenous and Torres
Strait Islanders is greater than that of the
nation as a whole. In Australia, the increasing
number of people suffering from type-2
diabetes most probably is drive by increased
rates of obesity, a reduction in physical
activity, changes in diet, and the aging
population. The predominance of type-2
diabetes among indigenous group of people is
3 to 4 times higher than that of non-
indigenous people in Australia. There is no
evidence to indicate that Aboriginals are
involved in conventional diets with diabetes
or other health problems, such as
cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure
or obesity. Research indicates that the
physiology of Indigenous Australians has
focused on making them effective, rural,
hunter-gatherers. Now that less Aboriginal
people have a traditional lifestyle, and are
more susceptible to the new westernization of
diets that are poor in fibre, high in fat and
sucrose, caffeine, smoking cigarettes and

sedentary lifestyles, their once-effective
metabolism can now overcome them.
A major disadvantage now may be the genetic
makeup that allowed indigenous peoples to
survive while food was scarce, promoting
weight gains, diabetes and diseases, such as
cardiovascular diseases and hemophilia.
Research has shown the elevated rates of
obesity and glucose tolerance, blood pressure,
high triglyceride (fat) levels in the blood and
excessively high blood insulin in Aboriginal
people living in the Westernized Lifestyle.
The cumulative hereditary predisposure and
poor lifestyle of Aboriginal Australians thus
leads to the elevated incidence of type 2
diabetes (mydr.com.au, 2020).
Promotion and Maintenance of Health Diabetes Type 2 treatment involves
improvements in the style of life (weight loss,
dietary changes, increased physical activity),
blood glucose regulation, and in some
instances insulin-controlled blood sugar (oral
hypoglycaemic medicine) if appropriate.
Daily regulation for diabetes symptoms is
also needed for diagnosis. Naturally,
successful diabetes prevention and

management in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Island communities has a wider range of
factors, including economic, social and
political interference (mydr.com.au, 2020).
Promotion of Independence Promoting independence is mainly base on
reducing the difference of gap from the
normal residents of Australia. This is done by
healing their emotional views which have
been hampered since a long time. The
Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Healing
Foundation promote community centred
healing efforts to enhance the emotional
health of indigenous peoples, especially
leaders of Stolen Generations and facilitate
appropriate training for the healing
practitioners. The Foundation's funded
projects seek to prevent depression and
improve mental health of indigenous
communities through health care services and
exposure to traditional treatment, counseling
for traumas, and the more effective
management of grief and loss, as well as the
development of careers for the well-being and
social well-being of Indigenous and Torres
Strait Islands people (Closing the Gap, 2020).

Evaluation of Strategies Since it was established in 2009, 323 well-
being programs, 569 cultural activities and
692 national pride-making activities have
been funded by the Foundation. Suicide
prevention, suicide, crime, incarceration, drug
abuse, conflict across generations and
journeys towards recovery are the issues
discussed by the programs (Closing the Gap,
2020).
→Part 3: Original Discussion Post
Your action plan will be supported by an original post (min 300 words -
max 500 words excluding references) addressing the theme and
elaborating on your action plan.
Core components:

o Introduce your chosen group and health challenge.
o Qualify the significance of your chosen health challenge for your selected
community.
o Brief rationale for methods/tools that you will use to promote and
maintain health and wellbeing and independence therein. (tools must be
within the scope of a community health nurse).
o Consideration of cultural safety needs- briefly describe how you have
incorporated cultural safety into your planning for this diverse group.
o Briefly describe your evaluation strategy/strategies. (strategies must be
within the scope of a community health nurse).
o Peer engagement- To promote engagement of your peers with your work it should
include some statements or questions that will encourage further discussion of your
topic.
o Reference list- Your original post must be supported by at least 8 scholarly
resources published within the last 5 years and these must be listed in APA format
6th edition at the end of your post and incorporated in-text appropriately.

References
Closing the Gap. (2020). Strategies and practices for promoting the social and emotional
wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [Ebook] (pp. 3-4).
Australian Government. Retrieved from
https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/1c9d820f-4bf4-437d-8b15-dec682b9774c/ctgc-
rs19.pdf.aspx?inline=true
mydr.com.au. (2020). Diabetes in Indigenous Australians - myDr.com.au. Retrieved 25
January 2020, from https://www.mydr.com.au/diabetes/diabetes-in-indigenous-
australians